Traditional solar power systems comprise of individual photovoltaic panels that are rigid, heavy, and immobile, covering large areas in a stationary manner that makes transportation of these systems impractical. To handle wind and rain, these exposed systems require heavy and strong protection, such as glass surfaces covering the panel, aluminum frames around the panels, and often steel structure for providing a canopy on which these solar system stands. Most of the cost of a residential solar power system consists of design, placement, rooftop reinforcement, and installation of solar panels. The present invention significantly reduces such cost, by allowing placement of the solar system on the ground as part of a shading canopy.
Solar thermal systems which concentrate sunlight onto a focal point also require the use of glass mirrors and steel structures to support the mirrors and the solar receiver at the focal point. The light concentrator can be a parabolic trough with a tubular heater along the foci of the trough, or a parabolic dish with a single focal point. For a parabolic dish tracking the sun, wind force on the dish can be substantial when the dish is tilted in the direction of the wind. Almost all solar thermal systems are utility scale generation.